The present invention pertains to a method for graphical data comprehension, and, in particular, to a method of generating an audible sound, providing a ready indication of the value of data so as to permit an observer to rapidly evaluate information about a large amount of interrelated data.
Many activities require the rapid assimilation of large amounts of data. Often, the data are related to physical systems. By way of example, in the field of medicine physicians are required to rapidly assimilate large amounts of data regarding the condition of a patient. Human patients have numerous physical systems that require monitoring, such as the respiratory system and the circulatory system. Numerous internal organs also require monitoring, for example the liver, the spleen and the pancreas. While monitoring the various systems and organs is frequently automated, for example by means of a heart monitor to monitor the heart rate, vast amounts of data are generated indicative of the condition of the various systems and organs. Assimilating this large amount of data can be time consuming for the physician who must make rapid decisions as to the condition of the various systems and possible treatment. Any one doctor is likely to be responsible for numerous patients, significantly increasing the data the doctor must assimilate.
Similarly, military operations often require rapid decisions as to the course of action to be taken, and such decisions require rapid assimilation of large quantities of data as to the amount and condition of military assets, not only those of the military unit taking the action, but also data as to the assets of the opposing military unit, the terrain, and the indigenous population.
The rapid assimilation of large amounts of data is required in numerous other domains, both physical and otherwise, for example, in the fields of business, finance and real estate.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,800, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, concerns a GIFIC language method of generating a visual display for a database of information on a physical system. The display provides a plurality of display segments corresponding with data points of the physical system so that the visual display presents an image having a morphological arrangement approximating the physical system. Preselected display figure icons are displayed for each display segment to indicate the degrees of variation in the value of the data of the corresponding data point from a normal value for such data, and the data points are identifiable from the display locations of their respective icons and a metaphorical background. This may be either created indirectly by the appropriate placement of the icons, called KEGS in the GIFIC language, or directly by using an actual picture metaphor in modern implementations. Other display figure icons are displayed to indicate the state of two state or multi-state data. An observer is able to rapidly determine the value of the data for each data point as compared with a normal or expected value for such data, and to determine the state of two-state or multistate variable data. However, it is necessary for the observer to be closely watching the display in order to note any significant sudden change in the value of the data. Should the observer be otherwise occupied, a critical change in value might not be noted until significant time had passed.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is a method of generating an audible indication of data in a database, the data representing a plurality of data points. Preselected audible sounds are assigned to indicate various degrees of variation in the values of the data for the respective data points from normal or expected values for such data. A visual display is created having an arrangement indicative of the data points providing the data in the database. The visual display is scanned, and for each scanned data point, the preselected audible sound is generated which indicates the degree of variation in the value of the data for the scanned data point from the normal or expected value for the data for such data point.
The audible sounds can be musical tones, and might be based on the musical circle of fifths. For example, for multi-valued data, a normal value for the data of a scanned data point can be indicated by a tone having a preselected pitch, such as middle C. Increasingly higher deviations of the data from the normal value can then be indicated by increasingly higher tones from the circle of fifths, and increasingly lower deviations can be indicated by increasingly lower tones from the circle of fifths. For binary or two state data, a high tone can indicate one of the two states, while a low tone can indicate the other state. Alternatively, to indicate that data is two state data, two tones from a different key or from a different musical instrument can be utilized.
In accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the visual display indicative of the physical system includes icons indicative of the degree of variation in the value of the data for a corresponding data point from a normal or expected value for such data. The icons provide a visual indication of the variation in the values of the data from normal or expected values, and as the display is scanned, audible indications of the variation of values of the data are also obtained. Such a display can advantageously be provided using the GIFIC graphical language by assigning a specific musical tone from the circle of fifths and a specific GIFIC KEGS to represent each degree of variation from a normal value.